1700's -- In the early 1700's, under pressure, Native Americans began to sell off their land and
leave the area, some moving as a group to Ontario. In 1708 they sold a large piece of land that included Roxbury
Township. The deed for this transaction was written on an 18" x 28"
piece of parchment and is still quite legible. It is stored at the New Jersey
Historical Society Museum in Newark.

Reenactment of an early Rogerene
type Colonial
Settlement

1710's -- Around this date the first group of white
settlers established homes in the area that became Roxbury. They belonged to an
evangelical Christian group known as Rogerenes (or Rogerines), named after their founder,
John Rogers of Connecticut (1648-1721). Some date their arrival here as early as
1702, others as late as 1736. Their theology was similar to the Seventh Day
Baptists and their practices much like the old Quakers. The center of the settlement
of the initial 20 families was Mountain Pond, it's name changed around 1912 to Lake Rogerene (or Lake Rogerine), long after the group had left. Their modest farms
extended to what is today the Shore Hills section of Landing at the southern end of Lake
Hopatcong. By 1800 most had left the area, some joining
another Rogerene group in South Jersey, others heading for Ohio or Virginia,
while some others stayed in the area, blending in with the general population.

1715 -- Around this time the Roxbury area was first surveyed by John Reading, who also
had a keen eye for the business possibilities of the area. Iron Ore lay close
to the surface in various area of the Township, and before long an Iron Ore Mine
and small forge was in operation. Wolfe relates that the name
"Suckasunny" was originally applied by the Indians to the hill that
forms a natural boundary on the eastern edge of Roxbury. The name was first
recorded by Reading and is made up of the Lenni Lenape words for Black:
"suka", and the word for Stone: "assun", hence the Black
Stone of the abundant Iron Ore.

1730's --The valley of Suckasunny Plains grows in population as settlers come
north following the Black River. They were originally from Connecticut, had come
by boat to New Brunswick, and then over the lowlands to the fertile fields of Suckasunny.

1740 -- On December 24, 1740 Roxbury was incorporated as the fourth township in
Morris County. Within its boundaries at that time were the areas that later
would become Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mt. Arlington, Mt. Olive
Township, Netcong Borough and Washington Township, in addition to parts of
Hopatcong Borough and Stanhope. As a result of several of these communities
pulling away and becoming independent over the years , Roxbury Township is now
comprised of Succasunna (formerly Suckasunny, name changed 1888), Ledgewood
(formerly Drakesville, name changed 1891), Kenvil (formerly McCainesville), Port
Morris, Landing and Lower Berkshire Valley. Roxbury Township is just under 22
square miles in size.

1745 -- Presbyterians first started meeting in homes in Succasunna about this
time. In 1756 the Succasunna Presbyterian Church was organized by the New
York Presbytery, with the first building constructed on the current site around 1760.

1750's -- Lake Hopatcong was called Great Pond. Around 1750 an iron forge is built by
New York City businessman Garret Rapalje near the southern end of the Lake at
the point where it flows into the Musconetcong River. Called the Brookland
Forge, it was located on what is now the Hopatcong State Park and it operated
for over 30 years. A dam built for the forge raised the Lake level by 6 feet,
submerging areas of shoreline and cutting off Halsey Island and Raccoon Island
from the mainland. The Lake became known as Brookland Pond.

1758 - - The "Treaty of Easton" in October marks the pullout of the Delaware
Indian Nation from the French & Indian War. The previously peaceful Delaware
had joined the French against the Colonial/British settlers in New Jersey and
had massacred members of almost a dozen families who had settled in Sussex County, causing
alarm in Roxbury. The
Treaty completes the sale of Lenape Delaware land to European settlers and
called for remaining Tribe members in New Jersey & eastern Pennsylvania to move to the
Ohio Valley or
join other Native Americans in Ontario.

1776 thru 1783 -- Roxbury Township and the surrounding area become an important
hub for producing Iron Ore and cannonballs to supply General George Washington
and the Continental Army. During the Revolutionary War, the Succasunna
Presbyterian Church served as barracks and a hospital for the Continentals. A
tradition relates how George Washington visited his wounded soldiers there.
A number of wood and stone homes were built in Drakesville (Ledgewood)
and Succasunny during this time.

1804 -- The Essex - Morris - Sussex Turnpike is completed, running through
Roxbury Township, a reliable Wagon Toll Road that sped up the movement of people
and goods from the cities of the northeast to the wilds of northwest New Jersey.
Specifically, the road went from Elizabeth, through Chatham, passed through
Madison in almost a straight line, skirted Washington's headquarters in
Morristown; ran along Sussex Avenue through Randolph and into Roxbury, and
continued through Succasunny Plains, Drakesville (Ledgewood) and Stanhope to
Newtown.

1809 -- The first school in Roxbury of which we have firm evidence came
into being. The 'Roxbury Academy' was a private boarding school on Main
Street, Succasunny, that not only accommodated local students, but also
lodged young scholars from neighboring towns and states due to it's
excellent reputation and location away from the "corrupting"
influence and vices of larger towns.

1822 - -While fishing at Lake Hopatcong, George P. Macculloch (whose house in
Morristown still stands) dreamed up the idea of what was to become the Morris
Canal. The canal was chartered in 1824 and would be an inexpensive way of moving
large quantities of coal, timber, iron ore and other goods across New Jersey. It
was designed by Professor James Renwick of Columbia College, the first American
canal to climb hills. The Morris Canal would run for 103 miles joining the
Delaware River at Phillipsburg with the Hudson River, a mule-drawn barge trip
that took about 5 days. The Morris Canal would dramatically increase the
development of Roxbury Township.

1826 - A building lot along the Morris Canal in Drakesville (later renamed Ledgewood) was
purchased and a General Goods store was built by Woodruff and Crane, it's now
known as the King Store.

1827 -- The canal company, having acquired the property, builds a new dam on the
Lake to use the large body of water as a canal reservoir. A lock is built that
raised boats to the level of the Lake. A bypass valve controlled the water
flowing into a feeder canal that connected the Lake to the main canal. Lake
Hopatcong was the Morris Canal's largest reservoir. The Lake was entered through
a feeder of the Morris Canal. It then went to the lock at Brooklyn (a little
settlement which gave the Lake the name of Brooklyn Pond.) Hopatcong State Park
contains Morris Canal remains. In this park, to the left of the beach, is
a huge iron waterwheel on display, from Plane No. 3, which operated chains,
later wire cables, pulling up the boats. At the gate control house, the visitor
can see the locks under water at the edge of the Lake. Also here are the
gatekeeper's and paymaster's house (built about 1826, still standing). West of
the pumping station and the turbine, the broad open space was the basin of the
old canal, which from here went to Lake Musconetcong. There were 23 separate
inclined planes along the Morris Canal. Set in giant cradles, boats were hauled
up rail tracks by chains to water levels as high as 100 feet. As different
sections of the canal were completed, they were opened up for local use. On
November 4, 1831, the first complete trip from Newark to Phillipsburg was
completed. The canal was 90 miles long; and, the trip from Newark to
Phillipsburg took about five days. The first full boating season was 1832. When
it was completed to Newark in 1831, the actual cost was $2,104,413. In 1836 the
eleven mile extension to Jersey City was added. In Roxbury, there were 3
inclined planes for the Morris Canal east of Lake Hopatcong; two in Ledgewood
and one in Shippensport. There was also the Port Morris inclined plane west of
the Lake. An 1827 planning map for the Canal shows 2 sawmills in 'Drakesville',
now called Ledgewood.

1830's -- A small community
known as Brookland develops around the canal lock in what is now Hopatcong State
Park. Another dam raises the Lake water level 6 more feet and the Lake becomes
known as Lake Hopatcong and over time the name Brookland changed to Brooklyn
after NYC's Brooklyn.

1834 -- A one-room log schoolhouse was constructed in Lower Berkshire Valley, it
was replaced in 1871 by a frame building in the same location. Also in
1834, Charles Shipman, a partner in the Morris Canal Company, builds a sawmill
near the top of Canal Inclined Plane Number 1 East, in the area now known as
Shippenport. The Mill was powered by the 'bypass' water from the Plane.

1844 -- At Shippenport a small Iron Forge was built by John Slade, to run by the
'bypass' water of the Morris Canal in summer after it powered the sawmill, and
by a small natural stream at other seasons. This forge was enlarged by Anson G.
P. Segur in the 1870's, and was still in working order when Munsell wrote of it
in 1882. Alternate names for this area were Shippensport, Shippmansport, &
Shippingport.

1849 -- Rev. T.T. Campbell organized a Methodist class meeting in Succasunna. On
July 3, 1850, the members of the church met and elected a Board of Trustees and
authorized the building of a church. Construction of the existing sanctuary and bell tower was
begun in 1850 and was dedicated on February 1852. The Rev. William Day was
appointed the first pastor.

1850's -- The tracks of the Morris and Essex (later taken over by the
Lackawanna) Railroad are laid through the area in 1854. There is a station at the Drakesville (now Ledgewood) crossing,
those wishing to go up to Lake Hopatcong were carried by horse drawn carts over
the bumpy roads up to the lake.

1853 -- The present Presbyterian Church building in Succasunna was constructed
to replace the old. The first service held was the funeral for Mahlon
Dickerson, former New Jersey Judge, US General, New Jersey Governor, US Congressman, and
Secretary of the Navy. He is buried in the Church cemetery. Mr. Dickerson
had previously brought President Van Buren to worship in the Church.

1865 -- the Ogden Mine Railroad was built to carry iron ore from the mines in
the hills of Jefferson Township to Nolan's Point at the north end of Lake
Hopatcong, a distance of ten miles. This ore was transferred to canal boats
which were towed by a steam tug across the Lake to "Brooklyn" lock.
The boats went through the feeder to the main canal and then east or west
depending upon their destination. The Canal company derived at least 50,000 to 60,000
tons of ore freight a year from this business.

1866 -- The most prosperous year of the Morris Canal as it carried almost a
million tons of freight. Among the commodities carried were lumber, coal, and
iron ore. The canal's business will now dwindle as the faster railroads start to
lure away the canal's customers.

1871 -- On March 22, Mt. Olive Township was created by splitting away from
Roxbury Township.

1874 -- Ledgewood Baptist Church was founded in 1874 and built a frame church
building shortly thereafter at the western edge of Main Street. The present building of natural stone was
constructed in 1917 at a site a quarter mile east, also on Main Street.

The Morris Canal at Shippensport

1880 -- During 1880 the amount of Iron Ore carried by the Morris Canal was
108,000 tons. With a boat normally carrying seventy tons, over 1,540 boat loads
were needed to move this cargo. When you consider that the Canal did not
"run" on Sunday and during the coldest part of the winter (frozen
water), those 1,540 boat loads of Iron Ore had to be moved over a span of less
than 260 days, an average of about 6 per day, and that's just Iron Ore loads. In
addition there was Timber, Coal, Zinc Ore and other loads carried. This was the
last "big" year for Canal shipping. In another matter, in a
report to the "Morris County Sabbath School Association",
it's six member churches in Roxbury Township reported that in 1880 they had an
average total of 338 students in attendance each week, along with 60 teachers.

1881 -- Much of the Canal Iron Ore business was lost when the Central Railroad
of New Jersey took over the Ogden Mine Railroad and laid track to connect it to
the Central's High Bridge Branch in 1881. Commercial shipping on the Canal would
dwindle during the next 2 decades, the quicker railroads having taken much of
the business.

1880s -- Hundreds of local residents are employed in the Lake Hopatcong Ice
Industry, cutting Ice on the lake and shipping it by rail to Newark, Paterson
and New York City areas before the days of electric refrigeration. Five
commercial Ice Houses are around the Lake, with the 'Mountain Ice Company'
having a very large Ice House in the Silver Spring section of Landing, off
Yellow Barn Ave., near the site of today's Nixon Public School.
A detailed 1887 map of Landing shows Dynamite and Gunpowder works on the grounds
of the American Forcite Powder Mfg. Co., later renamed the Atlas Powder Co.,
located on the southeast shore of Lake Hopatcong. Eventually Atlas would have
almost 130 buildings, barns & sheds on their 400 acres that spanned the area
along the Lake & up the hill from Shippensport Road to what is today Rogers
Drive. A Railway spur from the Lackawanna served both the Ice House and
the Explosives Company. The King brothers, Theodore F. King and William E. King,
ran 2 stores on the corner of Lakeside Blvd. and Landing Road. During this time
the bridge over the canal and railroad in Landing was made of Iron with wooden
planks as a roadway. In the early 1880's the Lackawanna Railroad built a
Passenger Station at Drakesville (modern day Ledgewood). Horse drawn
carriages would then take people up the bumpy road to the lake. By 1886
the Landing/Lake Hopatcong Railway Station on the Lackawanna Line was built.
Steamboats would wait on the Morris Canal in Landing for the passengers to
disembark from the train.

1886 -- The "Lake Hopatcong Steamboat Company", commonly known as the
Black Line, was founded. The company provided service from the "new"
Landing railroad station, built around 1886, to all areas of the Lake by means
of a 'feeder canal' that traveled from the Lake at the area of the State Park
and connected to the Canal in the area of the current Landing Shopping Center.
(The Canal ran parallel to the RR tracks in this area) From there the boats used
the Canal to come right up to the Rail station platform, where passengers simply
crossed the platform to board the boat sitting in the Canal. (the south end of
the Lake was extremely shallow at that time with only rowboats able to pass).
The trip back to the Lake took them through the Canal Lock, where the boat was
raised to the Lake's higher level. The Lackawanna Railroad, the Black Line &
the Canal cooperated in business.

THE LAKE BECOMES A
SUMMER RESORT1890's -- This era saw the blossoming of Lake Hopatcong as the
Summer Resort of choice by both the wealthy and the newly middle-class. The
wealthy would rent large furnished houses, (called cottages!!) on the waters
edge. The middle-class would often set up large canvas tents on wooden platforms
and dwell in these for a week or more. All would enjoy the cool "mountain
air" afforded by the advertised "1,200 foot elevation of the
Lake" (an exaggeration of its' actual 926 foot elevation), a welcome
summertime relief from the sweltering cities. Many would come up for the weekend
and stay in one of the Hotels or rooming houses that sprang up around the Lake.
Most everyone traveled to the Lake via Train, disembarking either at the
Central Railway of New Jersey Station at Nolans Point or at the Landing Station
of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. From there they most
often traveled to their Lakeside destination via Steamboat!! The roads were poor
to non-existent, and besides, the Steamboats were part of the attraction of the
Lake! With a growing cluster of Hotels and luxury homes, Mount Arlington was
created on November 1, 1890 by splitting away from Roxbury Township. The odd,
twisting border between Landing/Roxbury Township and Mt. Arlington seen on maps
was created when certain precincts voted to secede, while others did not.

In 1890 the "Hopatcong
Steamboat Company", known as the 'White Line' was founded by
Theodore King to compete with the established "Black Line".
This was a bold move, as the "Black Line" was owned by the
same financial syndicate that owned the Lackawanna Railway and the
Morris Canal. In a stroke of entrepreneurial inspiration, King
dredged the shallow lower area of Landing Channel to allow his
steamboats to come right up to the dock at "The Landing". The
Black Line charged passengers to the lakefront hotels a fifty cent fare
each way from the railroad station, a sizeable amount in 1890 !
Experienced travelers knew that after they got off the train they could
walk across the bridge at Landing and board one of King's boats which
only charged a twenty-five cent fare to go out to the hotels and forty
cents to return. The trip was also faster, as Kings' boats avoided the
trip through the Canal Lock at Lake Hopatcong.

The photo above shows the "Hopatcong", the flagship of Kings's 'White Line', at the dock in Landing

1899 -- Residents of Lower Berkshire Valley organized to build a
non-denominational Protestant Chapel for Worship services, which up to this time
had been held in the schoolhouse on Berkshire Valley Rd. In 1926 "Union
Chapel" became a Methodist Church.

1904 -- The "Grey" Schoolhouse on Hillside Ave opened for classes in
September 1904. It was the first building project done by the new Unified
Township School District. Before this period, each locality had a little one
room school with it's own Trustee Board. Within several years the Grey building
housed all grades from Elementary through High School, with the District also
overseeing the Port Morris Elementary School for younger children in that area
and the Berkshire Valley Elementary School.

1906 -- The Township
purchases the old Chestnut Hill Schoolhouse on Main Street and begins using it
as the first Town Hall. About this time the "Morristown Traction
Company" Trolley tracks are built, coming from Morristown into Dover,
through Mine Hill, and into Roxbury, coming west along Rt. 6 (now Rt. 46),
making a turn onto Kenvil Ave, turning right onto Main Street in Succasunna and
then into Ledgewood.

1908 -- The "New" Landing Bridge is completed. Built of stone and
masonry, it continues to stand to this day. Trolley service comes to Landing.
The Morris County Traction Company Trolleys can now go from Morristown all the
way up to Lake Hopatcong. The tracks pass over the new bridge and run up Mt.
Arlington Blvd. to the picnic area at Bertrand Island. The "Lackawanna
Cut-off" begins construction across New Jersey at this time, it is a
Railway Engineering marvel, running in a straight level line from just north of
Port Morris to the Delaware River. Instead of following the contours of the
land, it uses massive amounts of fill and long bridges to traverse valleys. The
two large arch bridges which still stand and cross Center Street in Landing/Port
Morris are the starting point. Also in 1908, Chester started sending their
Senior High School students to Roxbury, by 1911 all Chester High School
students went to Roxbury, in the early years by train, then by bus. This
arrangement continued through 1958 when Chester and adjacent municipalities
set up their own High School.

1912 -- The Mountain Ice Company in the Silver Spring section of Landing
has a huge wooden storage hanger, which burns to the ground in a fire so large
the flames lit up the sky all around the Lake. In 1913 an even bigger storage
building was built in a fireproof construction of a steel frame and two layers
of sheathing of hollow ceramic tile with insulating properties. At the time of
it's construction, it's 56 foot height made it the largest Ice House in America.
It was said to be able to hold 100,00 tons of ice. It was the largest
single-span construction in the USA until Radio City Music Hall was built. It
stood near the current day Nixon School. With the advent of electric
refrigeration, it closed in 1935 and was torn down in 1939. Nearby, the
home of the plant's Superintendent, the 'Cary' or 'Carey' house, built with the
same tile exterior, still stands at 285 Mt. Arlington Blvd.

1918 -- With a rapidly growing population, the "Gray" School building
was soon too small. In 1918 the Lincoln School was built, a large modern brick
building, located next to the "Grey" School. Roxbury High School was
located here for a number of years, with lower grades in "Gray". An
addition in 1926 increased the size of the Lincoln School.

1920 - The first Boy Scouts Troop in Roxbury Township was organized in
September 1920 as Troop 2, sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church,
Succasunna. Rev. Ralph Davy was the Scoutmaster. Troop 2 became Troop 54
in September 1926, with 16 Scouts participating.

1920s -- The Lackawanna Railroad route, with its' station in Landing, becomes
the predominant rail link to Lake Hopatcong, surpassing the Central
Railroad of New Jersey station at Nolan's Point. With decreasing Government
purchasing after WW I, and increasing land values, the Atlas Dynamite Powder Co.
ceases operation in 1923. In 1922 the Westmoreland Hotel (near the site of
today's Station Hardware) had a fire and closed. Shortly thereafter, in 1925, a
Restaurant called 'The Westmoreland Dining Room' opened a short distance away at
130 Landing Rd to serve customers who were regulars at the popular Hotel
room.

1922 -- With a growing population, and considering it's distance from the
central school, the Washington Elementary School in Port Morris was rebuilt
after a fire and enlarged to 8 classrooms. It also served Landing students.

1924 -- The formal shutting down of the Morris Canal as well as the removal of
the Steamboat Dock at Landing.

1925 -- The current dam is built in what became the State Park.

1928 -- Two significant events this year: The death of Theodore F. King and the
Morris County Traction Company trolley from Morristown through Landing and up to
Bertrand Island ceased operation in February, replaced by a bus line.

1930's -- With the Economic Depression of the 30's, people no longer
"weekend" at Lake Hopatcong in large numbers. The Grand Hotels around
the Lake start closing, including the last one in Landing: The Silver Springs
Park House.

1934 -- Route 10 is built as a major new road linking Essex and Morris Counties.
In Roxbury it's route would be pushed through older homes and farmland, running parallel
to the old Morris & Sussex Pike, otherwise known as Main Street.

1938 -- With increased population, the Roosevelt School is built as the new High
School. It is a large and impressive facility, built at a total cost of half a
million dollars, a very large sum in 1938. It is located on Hillside Ave,
alongside the Grey & Lincoln Schools.

THE MODERN ERA
1946 -- Although new homes were being planned, Succasunna still had many
farms in the immediate post-war era:
"Wait 'til the cows Come Home. Literally, that is what I did - waited! In my car, on Eyland Avenue, just past Righter Road, heading south toward
Condit Street, tired after a long day's work, with a meal still to be cooked, I sat watching the cows cross my path on their way home. It was a herd of
dairy cows that blocked my way as effectively as those sheep in England can fill a road. They were on their way from the luscious green, sunny
meadow on my left to Flying Duck Farm's barn on my right. They walked at a slow, sedate pace, one after the other; no jostling for position to be
head bovine, no pushing nor crowding. These were ladies. Occasionally there was a soft mooing and a tinkle of a cow bell, sounds I liked hearing
that reminded me of my childhood home in western Pennsylvania. The cows were going home to rest after their long day of chewing cud and
manufacturing milk for hungry infants, cream for coffee and other good things. I hadn't realized when I came to Succasunna in 1946 that I was so far
out in the country. Cows, this close to the city! Why there weren't more than five miles between towns - no room for cow pastures! How wrong I was!
There were several cow pastures in this area. Just beyond Frying Duck Farm, bordering Condit Street and Eyland Avenue, was the farm pasture
managed by Mr. Metz. Another half mile south on Eyland Avenue was Mr. Denton's Black Angus beef herd. Yes, one could get the good smell of
country right here in Succasunna. It was worth the wait 'til the cows come home. Over the years, the city crowded closer. A magician turned the
cows into houses and the pastures into developments with fancy names such as Sunrise Park, Beechwood Estates, Eyland Woods, and Whitegates
Estates. Now I wait on Eyland Avenue and Righter Road for the traffic light to change. The cows are barely a memory, but if I relax and close my
eyes, I can still see them sedately move and hear them moo to the music of a cow
bell" (As recalled by Janis French of Kenvil in 2002)

"My father, Paul Virkler (1909-1999), arrived from New York state in
1951 and cleared about 12 acres of his overgrown fields at 124 S.
Hillside Ave for corn fields. After several years sweet corn was the
only crop he raised. This continued until 1985 when “Virkler’s” closed
for good after supplying Roxbury Township with New Jersey’s best sweet
corn for 34 years. I calculate my dad raised and sold three or four
million ears of sweet corn during that time to Roxbury residents. He
sold all of his corn at the 124 S. Hillside Ave location. The area is
completely built up now and is occupied by the American Christian
School. In 1985 when the corn stand closed, “Virkler’s” was clearly the
last agricultural enterprise in Roxbury and had been for years! I now
live in Illinois and have been retired from teaching science in Mendham
Township since 1999. As an aside, Mr. John R. French was instrumental in
helping me acquire my first and only pubic school teaching job in 1959.
He used to purchase corn at our stand. He was my high school track
coach!
Still interested in Roxbury" (As recalled by Jim Virkler,
2014, Galena, IL)

1950 -- A Drive-in Movie opens near the
Ledgewood Traffic Circle, originally called the Garden Auto-Torium, with space
for over one hundred cars. It was commonly called the Ledgewood Drive-in. Also
in 1950, the Hillside Lutheran Brethren Church was organized among a
community of Scandinavian heritage and evangelical beliefs.

1951 -- During excavation work under Succasunna Presbyterian Church, the
bones of many Revolutionary War Soldiers were found, as the original
building had served as a Hospital during that time. These were then
reburied in the adjacent Cemetery.

The post war building boom comes to Roxbury
Township, with many fine suburban homes built. The new homes brought many new
children, with a need for new schools. In 1957 the Franklin Elementary
School on Meeker Street in Succasunna was constructed with 15 classrooms.
Soon, a need for a larger, modern High School was felt and the Eisenhower School
on Eyland Ave was completed in early 1961. In 1964 the Jefferson Elementary School was
completed to serve the burgeoning growth south of Rt. 10. Landing children
attended the Elementary School in Port Morris up until this time and in 1969
Nixon Elementary School on Mt. Arlington Blvd in Landing was completed,
leading to the closing down of the old Elementary School in Port Morris in June,
1971. Also in 1969 the Kennedy Elementary School on Pleasant Hill Rd in
Succasunna was opened. In 1972 the new, larger Roxbury High School was built,
allowing the Eisenhower School to be used as a Middle School.

1958 --A modern Fire Station opens for Roxbury Fire Co. No. 3 to protect the
Lower Berkshire Valley and Kenvil sections of town.

1960 -- Ten committed families band together to form Temple Shalom, the
first Jewish Synagogue in Roxbury Township. Previously, local families
had traveled to the Temple in Dover or elsewhere for services. Initially
meeting at “borrowed” facilities, in 1965 they built their own
modern building on S. Hillside Ave.

1963 --The recently organized Roxbury Township Historical Society scores a
major victory in saving the "Salt Box House" from demolition.
Dating from Colonial times, the Salt Box was the home of Silas Riggs and
other members of the Riggs family. The house was moved several blocks
west to it's new home in the Ledgewood Historic District. In 1965 the
Society would publish the first of three volumes of Roxbury Township
Historical books.

1974 -- A new, modern Roxbury Public Library building is opened on Main
St Succasunna,
replacing an adjacent house which had served as the Library.

1986 -- The Ledgewood Drive-in Movie closes, several years later a "BJ's
Warehouse" retail store was built on the site.

1998 -- After hundreds of fender-benders, the infamous Ledgewood
Traffic Circle is replaced by a triangle and a common traffic light.

Even with all the new homes built, many remnants of the Roxbury of over 150
years ago remain, including:
The Silas Riggs House on Main Street, Ledgewood, the Cary Stone House and the
Jacob Drake house, both on
Emmans Rd with all three dating to Colonial days, the
Theodore King Store on Main Street, Ledgewood,
dating to circa 1826, the Canal
Lockkeepers House at the State Park circa 1830, the brick and stonework
foundations
of the Morris Canal and Saw Mill off Shippensport Road dating to
circa 1830-1870.

This page can only begin to cover
the rich history of Roxbury. Although this site originated as an independent effort, we
now work cooperatively with and appreciate the work of the area Historical organizations:

1. The "King Store" at 211 Main Street in Ledgewood, operated by
Theodore F. King from 1874 through 1928, is now open for short tours on the
second Sunday of each month from 1-4 PM. Operated by volunteers from the Roxbury
Historic Trust, this is well worth a visit. Books detailing Roxbury and local
history are on sale, along with souvenir postcards. The Trust is also restoring
the 1881 King Victorian House. Roxbury Historic Trust Inc., 209 Main St,
Ledgewood, NJ 07852 tel# 973-927-7603 or 973-584-7903.

2. The Roxbury Township Historical Society operates the historic circa 1770-1805 "Silas Riggs
Saltbox House" at 213 Main Street in Ledgewood, usually open on the second
Sunday afternoon of each month. They also sponsor an evening lecture series,
open to the public, as well as the very popular "A Saltbox Christmas",
an Open House with an Olde Fashioned Christmas Soup Supper, held in early
December, free to the public. They work co-operatively with the Historic Trust,
together staffing the 3 buildings that make up the Ledgewood Historic District.
Roxbury Township Historical Society, PO Box 18, Succasunna, NJ 07876. tel#
973-584-6931 or 973-584-2676.